1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water absorbing article for absorbing and retaining water, and more particularly relates to a water absorbing article and method of using the same which is applicable to a wide range of application fields, such as, for example, preservation of perishable foods such as fish or meat, sanitary material for paper diapers or sanitary napkins, and soil engineering for absorbing and retaining water in a soil for use in agriculture or civil engineering.
2. Background Art
When foods such as fish or meat are stored in a vacuum hermetically sealed packaging at chilled temperatures, meat Juices or broth, called "drip" will exude when the foods are thawed after storage. The drip will accumulate at an interface between foods and the packing film, and the accumulated drip will degrade the quality of the food by causing discoloration or color change and reduces the value of the product. If the discolored portion is removed, the total yield of the food is reduced. In addition, the accumulated drip may foster the growth of bacteria, which results in shorter storage life.
In order to solve the above problems, a method is proposed in Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 3-147739, wherein a food is stored by being placed on a liquid absorbing material supported in between a liquid permeable sheet and a liquid absorbing sheet and by vacuum packing the whole with a hermetic film. An alternative method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. 7-257657, wherein a food is placed in contact with a film which is semi-liquid-permeable.
However, when the former method is applied, since the food is in contact with a liquid impermeable sheet, it is difficult to remove drip accumulated under concave bottom areas of the food, so that the former method is insufficient for absorbing and removing the undesirable drip.
On the other hand, when the latter method is adopted, since the food is in contact with the semi-permeable film, a drawback was observed in that water in the food was excessively absorbed through the semi-permeable film during storage, thereby, drying the food and the quality of the food was degraded.
The present invention is carried out to solve the above problems. The objects of the present invention are to provide a liquid absorbing article and a method of storing foods by using the same, which is capable of preventing foods from discoloration and color-change for a long period and to prevent foods from drying by absorbing only the drip during storage without actively absorbing water, to remove drip accumulated at concave bottom areas of food.